SPOKANE — A former prostitute convicted of killing her husband has been sentenced to nearly 51 years in prison.
Shellye Stark, 47, was sentenced to 610 months Thursday by Spokane County Superior Court Judge Tari Eitzen.
She was convicted last month of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the shooting death of Dale Stark.
Shellye Stark used to work as a prostitute in Southern California. She told jurors in her murder trial that she was defending herself from an abusive husband who had forced her into Internet prostitution, then threatened to expose her to family members if she defied him.
Prosecutors contended she carefully planned the slaying.
Dale Stark died from five bullet wounds on Dec. 9, 2007, minutes after being served with a temporary restraining order that Shellye Stark had obtained two days earlier.
After she was convicted, Stark fired her lawyers and demanded a new trial. She contended that she was off her medications and hallucinating during the trial and had new evidence that will exonerate her.
The judge delayed the sentencing three weeks to give her new attorney time to prepare.
Earlier this week, Stark’s boyfriend was arrested in California. Brian L. Moore, 42, was arrested in Orange County, Calif., for investigation of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Spokane police contend Moore helped plan the killing to get a portion of Dale Stark’s assets.
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